U.S. VP Pence blasts ‘failings’ of Canadian health system

The vice-president of the United States has some less-than-complimentary words for Canada’s health-care system, which he accuses of certain “failings.”

Mike Pence made the remarks in an interview last week with Alaska radio station KFQD.

He was being asked about the Republican health legislation struggling to get through Congress.

Republicans appear to be wrestling to get a bill that would repeal Obamacare through the legislature before a procedural deadline later this month — and the effort is in deep trouble.

Pence warned that if the legislative effort collapses, the U.S. will be on a course for something similar to Canada.

That’s because the Democratic party is starting to rally to an unprecedented degree around the idea of single-payer health care as a long-term solution to the U.S.’s endless health debates.

“We have a clear choice here,” Pence said.

“You know, somewhere in between where I’m sitting in Washington, D.C., and (you) Alaska, is a place called Canada. I probably don’t need to tell the people Alaska about the failings of national socialized health care because it’s right in our neighbour and you see the results every day.

“Look, we’ve got a choice: It’s between big government, Washington, D.C., solutions that ultimately, I believe, will collapse into single-payer health care — or whether or not we’re going to repeal the (Obamacare) individual mandate.”

Canada’s health system is known to suffer from long wait times, especially for elective procedures. On the other hand, Canadians not only have longer life expectancies, but also spend far less on health care than Americans according to World Bank data.

The Trump administration has just received a fresh round of bad news about its health-reform effort: After John McCain, Susan Collins became the latest senator Monday to say she opposes the Obamacare repeal bill, almost certainly dooming it. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Hamilton councillors swing for the greens to provide lower fees to play

Hamilton politicians got into the swing of things by reducing the green fees at the city’s two Chedoke golf courses.

Since the economic recession of 2008, area golf courses have suffered with reduced rounds due to high prices and a saturated market.

Hamilton’s golf courses, King’s Forest, which has been ranked as the number one municipal golf course in Canada, and Chedoke’s two courses the Beddoe and Martin have not escaped the economic slump. A market analysis by Global Golf Advisors, commissioned by the city, found Hamilton’s courses have “experienced declining demand” since 2010.

The consultants urged the city to increase the rounds, while instituting a “flexible fee structure” program. By adopting the new structure, the city could increase the number of rounds by 37 per cent, or 24,000 rounds per season at all three golf courses, while also boosting revenue to about $600,000.

City staff agreed Hamilton is taking a unique approach reducing prices in the hope it will increase the number of rounds golfers play each year.

The proposed green fees for the Beddoe course would be reduced from $44.25 per round from Monday to Thursday to $33.06, while on weekends and holidays, a round would cost $44.26 rather than $48.67. The Martin course would see green fees dip from $30.09 from Monday to Thursday to $28.20, and $35.40 to $33.83 on weekends and holidays. Twilight rounds would also see a reduction in green fees. Seniors would get a break for both 18 and nine hole rounds.

The city will be cutting golf memberships for the Beddoe and Martin courses, and slight reductions in advantage packs prices. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Waste collection: Part-time work for full-time pay

Many of the city’s unionized waste collectors appear to be routinely working about five hours a day while being paid for eight. In some cases, the total amount of time actually spent collecting trash is as little as three hours in a shift. The Spectator investigation, which took place over three months this winter, also discovered that some trucks were routinely gathered on a private road leading to Pier 22 in the east end and sat idling for up to half an hour in the late morning before moving next door to the city’s waste facility on Burlington Street East to clock out for the day. On some days, as many as six trucks sat idling on the little-used road, and some of them parked well back from the Burlington Street intersection. On several occasions during the investigation, the trucks idling on the obscure Pier 22 road had arrived less than four and a half hours after leaving the Burlington Street facility to start the day. In other cases, city garbage trucks lined up in the entrance of the Kenora Avenue transfer station and sat idle for periods of up to 45 minutes in the late morning before returning to the Burlington Street facility to finish their shifts. The investigation showed that for some employees, the total amount of time that elapsed from the moment they drove on to the Burlington Street East property to the moment they left was as little as five hours and six minutes. The findings of the Spectator investigation also suggest that the daily finishing times appear to be closely co-ordinated between trucks. On many of the observed days, as many as a dozen trucks would assemble in a line just prior to noon in the entrance of the Burlington Street facility, ready to pass through the weigh scales as soon as the clock struck noon. The investigation again shines a light on the question of part-time performance for full-time pay in the public works department. “It’s certainly alarming, it’s disappointing and it’s discouraging,” said Ward 8 Councillor Terry Whitehead, chair of city council’s public works committee. “It’s very concerning that taxpayers in this community don’t appear to be getting value for dollars. “I really want to focus on how high this goes up in regard to responsibility, because at some point at the high level, heads have to roll,” Whitehead added. It was just over a year ago that the city’s public works department faced a similar black eye involving front-line workers in the roads division. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)